Plenty to report on this month: a visit to Government frontbencher and strategist Anthony Albanese MP, briefings with members of the first official Australian parliamentary visit to Tibet since 1991, arrival of the Dalai Lama’s new representative in Australia and much more.

But first… Why Won’t Kevin Rudd Meet the Dalai Lama?
Seems it’s not only the Australian public who are dismayed at the Prime Minster’s decision not to meet the Dalai Lama in December. Member of all major parties have expressed privately to ATC their disappointment at the PM’s decision and are doing what they can behind the scenes to encourage him to reconsider.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young picked up the issue during a live chat on Sky’s “About the House” program last week, commenting that since Australia’s relationship with China is now “back on track” (a reference to Foreign Minister Stephen Smith’s comments prior to a visit of Chinese Vice Premier Li last week), what reason was there for the PM not to meet His Holiness?

You can read more about this debate in our short piece “What Price for Mending Ties with Beijing?” copied below.

Seven of Our MPs and Senators to Visit Lhasa
On Monday this week (2 November) an official Australian parliamentary delegation landed in Beijing for the start of a 12-day visit to China and Tibet. The delegation, led by President of the Senate John Hogg, requested a visit to Lhasa as part of their program. Chinese authorities have agreed, making this the first official Australian parliamentary delegation to visit a Tibetan area since 1991.

On their return the 1991 delegation tabled a damning report in Parliament that highlighted the deplorable human rights situation in Tibet and the dissatisfaction of Tibetans with Chinese policies. Consequently no official delegation from the Australian parliament has been allowed to visit Tibet since.

This time the group will be in Lhasa for a mere 48 hours for what is sure to be a tightly controlled visit. ATC met one-on-one with five of the seven MPs and Senators travelling to Tibet and held detailed discussions on what to expect in Lhasa, strategic questioning of officials, developments since March 2008 and dealing with the Chinese media.

The delegation includes Senator Scott Ludlam, a member of July’s delegation to Dharamsala and a core member of our All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.

ATC has welcomed this initiative by the Australian Parliament, noting that visits to Tibetan areas by international observers are extremely important under the current circumstances. We were impressed by the knowledge and motivation of the delegates with whom we met and have no doubt they’ll be asking some pointed questions of officials in Lhasa.

We’ll be checking in with the delegation on their return and look forward to sharing some of their observations.

News Ltd: Federal MPs in First Visit to Tibet in 18 Years

Marrickville Tibetans Pay a Visit to Their Local Member
Anthony Albanese receives over 100 requests for meetings a day. Our small delegation of Tibetans and Tibet supporters was therefore determined to make best use of our allotted 15 minutes with one of the most powerful people in the Australian Government. Mr. Albanese’s constituency in the inner west of Sydney is home to around thirty Tibetans.

ATC member, Marrickville resident and long-time Tibet supporter Harry Richards organized the meeting on behalf of the local Tibetan community. Speaking in Tibetan, Namloyak, a prolific writer on Tibetan issues, briefed Mr. Albanese on key issues for Tibetans in Tibet, including political prisoners, the forced removal of nomads and degradation of Tibet’s environment. Namloyak also explained the environmental and strategic significance of Tibet to the greater region and appealed for greater help from Australia to promote a peaceful and lasting resolution. Tenpa Tenpa, another Tibetan living in Marrickville, translated for Namloyak, with Sherab, another local Tibetan, Harry Richards and Simon Bradshaw making up the rest of the party.

Mr. Albanese gave knowledgeable and sympathetic responses to the group’s concerns and encouraged the Tibetans in his electorate to maintain ongoing contact. The Minister also emphasized the value for Tibetans in sharing their personal stories as a way of building greater support from the community and Government.

Australian Parliament Welcomes Sonam Dagpo, new Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Bids a Fond Farewell to Tenzin Atisha
Sonam Dagpo, the incoming Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Australia, received a warm bipartisan welcome from the Australian Parliament during a weeklong handover from outgoing representative Tenzin Atisha.

MPs and Senators from all major political parties in Australia formally welcomed Mr. Dagpo at a reception inside Parliament House on Tuesday 27 October. The group, which included several members of July’s Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Dharamsala, also bid a fond farewell to Mr. Atisha, a familiar face in Canberra who has held the post since 2003.

The representatives shared their thoughts on the current Tibetan situation with the parliamentarians and discussed the important role for Australia in promoting a peaceful resolution. Mr. Atisha reflected on his six years as representative in Australia and thanked the MPs and Senators for their active support. The group reaffirmed their support for a peaceful and lasting resolution of the Tibetan situation and committed to working closely with Mr. Dagpo over the coming years. The group also committed to continuing the work of Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.

In the evening members of July’s delegation to Dharamsala hosted a dinner for the representatives in the Parliament dining room. The following day Mr. Dagpo joined ATC staff in briefing members of an upcoming Australian Parliamentary Delegation to China and Tibet.

Australia Welcomes New Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

What Price for Mending Ties with Beijing?
Australia Tibet Council, 30 October 2009

Amid the excitement surrounding the arrival of the Chinese Vice-Premier and relief at an apparent end to months of bilateral tension, one unfulfilled commitment seems to have slipped yet lower on the Government’s priorities: Tibet.

While we shouldn’t underestimate the difficulties the Government faces in managing relations with an ever more assertive China, neither should we overlook the compromises that have been made in order to mend ties with Beijing.

Thanks to Mr. Rudd’s skilful use of the media cycle, his decision not to meet the Dalai Lama when he visits Australia in December (leaked quietly to The Australian at the start of the October long weekend) went almost unnoticed.

Similarly the PM’s remarkable ability to deflect criticism and create a false sense of action has served him especially well on this issue. Even some of our best commentators on Australia-China relations have parroted the PM’s justification that “the Dalai Lama is a regular visitor and they canâ��t be expected to meet on every occasion”. The PM has never met the Dalai Lama as Prime Minister, a period during which he has held five one-on-one meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, as well as multiple meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior Chinese figures.

Rudd’s colleagues continue to cite his controversial speech at Peking University in April 2008 as evidence that the Government takes the Tibet issue seriously and is playing its part in supporting a peaceful resolution. While few would deny the Prime Minster’s audacity in raising the Tibet issue publicly in Beijing, it is easily ignored that this was a full eighteen months ago.

Rudd’s near silence on Tibet since, despite the collapse of the Tibet-China dialogue and deteriorating situation inside Tibet, stands in contrast to the approach of his US counterpart. Obama has reportedly held discussions with the Dalai Lama by phone, recently sent a high-level delegation of US officials to Dharamsala and has committed to a meeting with the Dalai Lama before the end of the year.

Australians have repeatedly demonstrated the esteem in which they hold the Dalai Lama and their concern over the situation in Tibet. The Dalai Lama’s visit to Australia in December offers more than a photo opportunity for the Prime Minister. It is a chance for Mr. Rudd, after successive meetings with the Chinese leadership, to hold discussions with the Dalai Lama on the Tibet situation and possibilities for breaking the deadlock in negotiations with China. Will the Prime Minister live up to his commitment to non-violence, dialogue and the promotion of human rights? He must reconsider his decision not to meet the Dalai Lama.

Next week you can receive live updates via the @ATC_EyeOnTibet Twitter blog as ATC staff head to Canberra for another busy two days of lobbying at the Federal Parliament.

In between, here’s a brief summary of recent activities in Parliament House:

In our last entry we reported that Michael Danby MP had asked the Government to disclose any information it had been able to obtain on eleven high-priority political prisoners on which ATC has been campaigning. You can download and read a pdf of the Foreign Minister’s answers here.

The incomplete information provided by the Foreign Minister has been gained through the Australia-China Human Rights Dialogue and through contact between the Australian Embassy in Beijing and relevant Chinese authorities following requests from ATC.

Sadly the Government has as yet been able to obtain further information on Tibetan filmmaker, Dhondup Wangchen, arrested in March 2008 after gathering footage for the powerful documentary “Leaving Fear Behind”, currently awaiting trial and now the subject of a major international campaign. View campaign

Parliamentarians Respond To Mr Rudd’s ‘No Meeting’ Announcement
Members of our Parliamentary Tibet group have responded to the Prime Minister’s unexpected announcement that he will not meet the Dalai Lama by pushing the Government for answers on how it intends to actively support a peaceful resolution of the Tibetan issue.

Peter Slipper MP, another long-time supporter of Tibet, friend of the Dalai Lama and co-convenor of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet has asked the Prime Minister a number of questions concerning the Tibet-China dialogue, in addition to asking what pressure Australia may be under to support China’s position on Tibet and what steps the Government intends to take next.

On 22 October 2009, Senator Scott Ludlam of the Greens quizzed DFAT officials during a Supplementary Budget Estimates session on their understanding of recent developments in Tibet and any progress in the Australia-China Human Rights Dialogue.

Working at the parliamentary level can be a slow and laborious process. But we’ll be sure to bring you answers when we have them and continue to do all we can to encourage meaningful action on Tibet from the Australian Government.

MPs and Senators Push Government for Action on Political Prisoners

Members of both houses have been pushing for answers on Tibet’s estimated 1,000+ political prisoners this week.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young put a ‘Question on Notice’ to the Foreign Minister asking what efforts the Government has taken to obtain information on the health and whereabouts of Gedun Choekyi Nyima - the Eleventh Panchen Lama and second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, detained by Chinese authorities on 17 May 1995, aged six. Senator Young also asked what new information if any the Government had been able to obtain and what steps it planned to take next.

In the lower house, Michael Danby MP, Convenor of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, has asked the Foreign Minister to disclose information on eleven high-priority political prisoners on which ATC has been campaigning. These include the six prisoners featured in our ‘Profiles of Courage’ initiative, along with Gonpo Tserang, Bangri Rinpoche, Lobsang Tenzin, Norzin Wangmo, Pajor Norrbu and Gedun Choekyi Nyima.

Mr. Danby asked the Minister whether the Government has “obtained any information about the location, welfare and, where applicable, the charges or sentences facing these prisoners, whether any such information has been independently verified and, if none has been obtained, what steps will be taken to obtain that information”.

Melissa Parke MP, member of the recent Australian delegation to Dharamsala spoke eloquently and passionately about the Tibetan situation during a ‘Grievance Debate’ in the lower house, relating many of her experiences in Dharamsala. Ms. Parke reiterated that the delegation has returned with a number of concrete goals. Among other things they will be advocating for the release of Tibetan political prisoners, including filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, whose wife, Lhamo Tso, they met in Dharamsala.

In another bold initiative in the Senate, members of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet moved that the Senate refer the Tibetan situation to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. This would have entailed a full enquiry spanning several months, with the possibility of calling multiple Tibetan witnesses including His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his December visit. The motion, moved by Senator Scott Ludlam, was defeated.

What to Make of the Postponed Obama/Dalai Lama Meeting?

The were was an air of excitement over the weekend as news emerged that a high-level US Government delegation, including a senior advisor to the President and Maria Otero, Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, had gone to Dharamsala for talks with the Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche. This was the first time that a team of such senior US officials had travelled to Dharamsala ahead of planned visit by the Dalai Lama to Washington. Surely this must have been to lay the ground for a much-anticipated meeting with Obama in October?

At first we were only mildly concerned by official announcement on Monday that the meeting would be postponed until after the US-China Summit in November. At least a meeting with the President in Washington, albeit at a later date, was now a certainty.

And then it sank in - the realization that the Dalai Lama would be visiting the US without meeting Obama, just weeks before his arrival in Australia and the opportunity for a meeting with Kevin Rudd.

So what to make of this apparent setback? Is it a case of the US trying to appease an ever more belligerent Chinese Government? Almost certainly. Does it say something about China’s rising influence - the fact it seems that even the “leader of the free world” must now be careful not to unsettle the Chinese leadership? Perhaps. Is it a precedent? Not necessarily. The Dalai Lama has made several visits to the US without meeting the President.

All that said, it has been hard for Tibetans and Tibet supporters to hide their disappointment at this unexpected twist. For all its foreign policy failings elsewhere, the US has been a staunch supporter of Tibet for decades. Bush and Clinton, as said, met the Dalai Lama on multiple occasions. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been one of the most consistent and eloquent advocates of Tibetans’ rights. In 2007 the US awarded the Dalai Lama its highest civilian honour - the Congressional Gold Medal. Will Obama yet come out strong for Tibet and give the Tibetan people the international political support they so desperately need? I’ve no doubt our colleagues at the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet will be working round the clock to increase the chances.

Thinking ahead to the Dalai Lama’s Australian visit in December, there is of course the possibility that a meeting with Obama will take place in the narrow window between the US-China Summit and His Holiness’s scheduled arrival in Sydney, creating an almost unanswerable case for a meeting with Kevin Rudd. But for that we’ll have to wait and see. In the mean time, ATC will be campaigning hard to ensure that the wishes of Australians and Tibet supporters alike are fulfilled and the Dalai Lama is given an appropriate reception by the Prime Minister and Australian Government in December. And we’ll soon be asking all our members and supporters to help turn up the heat!

This week our Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, including the six Senators and MPs who recently travelled to Dharamsala, have written to the Prime Minister this week requesting he take the opportunity to meet His Holiness in December and stressing that “given the Dalai Lama’s status as a Nobel Laureate, religious leader and spokesman for the Tibetan people, along with the demonstrated interest of the Australian people in his visit, such a meeting would be highly appropriate”.

Similar requests have been made of the Foreign Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Foreign Minister.

ATC is seeking immediate comment from the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Julie Bishop MP, after a series of bizarre criticisms over the Government’s handling of Australia-China relations. Read more

In the Senate Chamber

Fresh from their recent visit to Dharamsala, members of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet are working hard to keep the Tibet issue alive in the Federal Parliament. Last week Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia, spoke in the Senate on her experience in Dharamsala, concluding with a rousing call for Australia to stand up for the voiceless in Tibet.

“It is time for our government, for our Prime Minister, for our parliament to open the doors to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and say, ‘Yes, we stand with you.’ This is about justice and human rights; it is not just about politics. This is about doing what is right and using the opportunities that we have. Here in Australia we have an amazing opportunity because we are able to speak freely and stand strong. We need to help others do the same.”

Read Senator Hanson-Young’s full speech
Read more reflections from the parliamentarians on their visit to Dharamsala

Yesterday Senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Independent Nick Xenophon, backed by Senator Bob Brown, attempted to set an important precedent by moving that the Dalai Lama be invited to sit in the Senate’s distinguished visitors’ gallery during his visit to Australia later this year - an honor usually reserved for visiting parliamentarians or recognized heads of state. The Senators noted that the Dalai Lama has previously addressed both the European Parliament (twice) and a joint sitting of the US Congress. The motion was defeated. Media Release from Senator Hanson-Young

Also yesterday (20 August 2009) Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens Senator for Western Australia and another member of the recent delegation to Dharamsala, moved that the Tibet issue be the subject of a full enquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade. The motion was postponed to 7 September.

A New Phase in Australia-China Relations?
Last week I was privileged to attend a special screening in Parliament House of “10 Conditions of Love” - the film at the centre of the media frenzy surrounding Rebiya Kadeer’s visit to Australia. Ms. Kadeer and her able translator Alim Seytoff also addressed a packed house at the National Press Club and met several Federal MPs and Senators to brief them on recent events in Urumqi and the continuing oppression of the Uyghur people.

Predictably, Rebiya Kadeer’s hugely successful visit to our shores prompted outrage from Beijing officials, with opposition MPs including Malcolm Turnbull accusing the Rudd Government of catastrophically mismanaging relations with China. Nonetheless, Australia has this week signed its biggest ever export deal with China - $50bn worth of natural gas from WA’s proposed Gorgon development.

Has Australia’s relationship with China really taken a blow or is it in fact maturing in a way that we as Tibet supporters should see as positive? Is it becoming more akin to that of the US, which has for many years been outspoken on Tibet while maintaining strong economic ties? The $50bn Gorgon deal, the latest twist in the recent storm over Australia-China relations, certainly casts doubt on the familiar argument that Australia risks damaging lucrative economic ties with China by pushing the Communist Party on human rights.

For all its fiery rhetoric and diplomatic rage over Rebiya Kadeer, China will continue to pursue deeper economic ties with Australia. As Rowan Callick and other senior journalists have pointed out, the Party’s fragile legitimacy at home is built upon successive decades of economic growth and in delivering material improvements to the lives of many among the Han majority. That legitimacy depends upon continued growth, which is impossible without key economic partners including the US and Australia.

While few would deny that the events of the last two months have put strains on our complex relationship with Beijing, what we will hopefully finally accept is that we can, indeed we must, press the Communist Party on human rights issues, including Tibet, without fear of significant repercussions for Australia. It is not a case of having to choose between human rights and trade. As the Australia Tibet Council has long argued, Australia’s robust economic relationship with China means we are exceptionally well placed to promote human rights in China and a peaceful resolution of the Tibetan situation.

The next few months will be a key test for Australia on Tibet. With the Dalai Lama arriving in Australia in a little over three months and with high expectations that he will meet with US President Barack Obama in October, senior political commentators are already asking the inevitable question… Will our own Kevin Rudd hold firm and meet the Dalai Lama this time?

Links
Rowan Callick - “Perverse Rising Superpower” - Lecture at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, 12 August 2009 (Mp3 audio)

Peter Hartcher - “Dragon is Cross, But It’s Business as Usual”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 August 2009

Rowan Callick - “Dalai Lama’s Visit to Pose Another Curly Problem for Rudd”, The Australian, 21 August 2009